During a decade spent engaging at-risk youth in public art projects, Laure Biron '03 realized she was more interested in the service aspects of her work than the actual painting.
Alumni Mission Award

In 2019, the Alumni Mission Award was created to recognize graduates from the Academy who are living the GA mission: Independent in Thought, Confident in Expression, Compassionate in Spirit, Collaborative in Action, and Honorable in Deed. The Award is bestowed on a bi-annual basis by the Alumni Society Board. Enjoy reading below about the first 14 recipients of this honor.
All members of the GA community including alumni, parents of alumni, current parents, faculty, and staff, are encouraged to use the form at the bottom of this page to submit a nomination to recognize alumni who actively live GA's mission.
2023 Alumni Mission Award Recipients
It is no surprise to anyone who knows him that perseverance is Bill Hyndman’s favorite core value. He believes that many of life’s challenges have helped build him into the person he is today.
In 2015, Steven Jackson met his future business partner, Ricardo Calderon, as community organizers in the Philadelphia area. Their work intersected in the areas of community building, social justice, and storytelling.
From infinity to beyond is the best way to describe Derrick Pitts, the Chief Astronomer and Planetarium Director for the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. He is not only the first African American to hold these dual titles at a major science institution in the United States, but he is also the first American to set this benchmark.
Kurt Wetzel embodies the GA mission in so many ways. As an alum, parent, teacher, coach, and mentor, he exemplifies compassion and collaboration daily.
2021 Alumni Mission Award Recipients
The hallmarks of a truly great nurse are tremendous common sense, unflappability, depth and breadth of clinical knowledge and deep compassion. It is what separates a good nurse from a great nurse. Lori Andress '88 has these qualities in abundance."
The year 2020 marked a turning point in alumni conversations about Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Germantown Academy, and many of those conversations were spearheaded by Jessica Golson '06.
Whether she is sewing up knife wounds or taking bullets from a stomach, caring for those with COVID, Stephanie Lueckel, MD '96 puts everyone before herself and believes she is meant to save the patients with her knowledge, confidence, and compassionate spirit.
Helen Piszek Nelson '70 has lived a life committed to ensuring access to education, promoting international cultural connections, and cultivating lasting individual relationships.
2019 Alumni Mission Award Recipients
Jennifer Ehinger '88 has worked tirelessly to improve the lives and the futures of poverty-stricken children of Uganda.
An educator and administrator for 38 years, Eugene Golson '76 brought about an unwavering commitment to excellence from both his students and his staff.
Over the past 15 years, Jay Talsania '82 has volunteered his time to operate on children in rural areas of Guatemala.
Meghan McVeigh Maciolek '97 created the GA Alumni Community Service Organization as a way for GA alumni to participate in community service opportunities and to mentor students, all in honor of her late father, Peter McVeigh 1760.
Leaving a successful career in the banking industry, Karla Ballard Williams '90 took a leap of faith and began service work by starting a chapter of the Urban League, an organization aimed at empowering people of color to achieve economic self-reliance, equality, power, and civil rights.
Nominees must be 10 years or more out from graduation (Class of 2015 or older). Honorees will be notified and announced in Summer 2025, and honored during GA/PC Day & Alumni Weekend, November 7-9, 2025.
The deadline to submit nominations to be considered for 2025 is June 12, 2025.
If you have any questions, please contact the Alumni Office at alumni@germantownacademy.org.
MISSION STATEMENT
Our core GA Mission consists of 15 simple but profound words, 15 words that guide our actions and activities each day and every year.
INDEPENDENT IN THOUGHT
A leadership mindset begins with having the independence of thought necessary to seek and find the truth in all that he or she reads, sees, and hears.
CONFIDENT IN EXPRESSION
Independent thinkers become self-confident individuals. Teachers and staff members hear expressed time and time again how confidently GA students comport themselves. Alumni visits around the country remind us that the core of confidence built during GA years holds firm throughout adulthood.
COMPASSIONATE IN SPIRIT
Effective leadership also involves the ability to care about others, to realize that everyone we meet can teach us something valuable and, in turn, can learn something of value from us. True compassion: empathy that enables independent-minded, confident people to recognize that vulnerability is the connecting spirit within us all.
COLLABORATIVE IN ACTION
Collaborative action moves a group forward whether a community, a team, a company, etc... Active "followership" plays a significant role in a meaningful education. Well-educated people have learned when and how to dedicate themselves to the support of the whole.
HONORABLE IN DEED
The Mission Statement recognizes that without personal honor, curious, confident, compassionate people will not engender the trust needed to be effective leaders or followers. GA strives to teach students to hold themselves to the highest personal standards. To achieve this goal, adults in our community must be role models of trustworthy behavior.
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